Arts at CERN announces the artist awarded the second Resonance residency
Arts at CERN is delighted to announce that Geneva-based French-Congolese artist Monika Emmanuelle Kazi has been selected for the second edition of Resonance. This annual residency programme was launched in November 2024 by CERN, the Republic and Canton of Geneva and the City of Geneva, with the support of the CERN & Society Foundation. Designed for Geneva-based artists, Resonance offers a unique opportunity for artistic experimentation through close exchange with CERN’s scientific community and research environment.
Monika Emmanuelle Kazi holds a master’s degree in Visual Arts from HEAD – Genève. Her interdisciplinary practice engages with haptics and machine learning, resulting in organic installations that combine video, performance and writing. Drawing on objects, family archives and research materials, her installations form systems of visual and everyday references that she calls “iso-objects” – a term inspired by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Situated between documentary and fiction, Kazi’s work weaves personal memory into broader global narratives.
For the Resonance residency, Kazi will develop Crystalline Memories, a project exploring perceptions of the future through the lenses of futurology, prospective studies, divinatory practices, cosmogonies and cosmology. Her artwork will draw on research conducted at CERN, particularly the CLOUD and CAST experiments. Through immersion in CERN’s ecosystem, Kazi aims to connect scientific research with reflections on diasporic memory and its erosive forces. Inspired by archetypal myths and cosmogonies, Crystalline Memories will poetically examine the construction of knowledge, the imagination of the future and the fragile memories through which we attempt to navigate both.
“With over 83 applications received, spanning a wide variety of practices, Resonance is establishing itself as an attractive programme that fosters research and experimental practices while connecting the Republic and Canton of Geneva and the City of Geneva’s cultural scene with CERN’s vibrant scientific context and social fabric. Arts at CERN has been delighted by the growing interest in the programme and looks forward to welcoming Monika Emmanuelle Kazi for the second edition of Resonance,” says Giulia Bini, Head of Arts at CERN.
“The City of Geneva was delighted by the breadth and quality of the applications received for the second Resonance residency. The creativity and diversity of the projects are testament to the relevance of this programme, which offers artists a rare opportunity for in-depth dialogue with CERN’s scientific community and provides the members of the jury with a space for exciting discussions about distinctly exploratory projects. This fruitful encounter between artistic imagination and fundamental research affirms the richness of such a partnership, which helps to broaden the diversity of voices and perspectives within our cultural ecosystem,” explains Sophie Sallin, Cultural Advisor for the City of Geneva.
“The Canton of Geneva is committed to promoting a rich culture that is open to other fields of knowledge. We are delighted to be involved in the Resonance artistic residency programme, which builds bridges between artistic creation and scientific research. This initiative also underlines the commitment of a world-renowned scientific organisation to its host city and illustrates the special ties that unite Geneva and CERN through shared cultural enrichment,” says Thierry Apothéloz, President of the State Council of the Republic and Canton of Geneva.
The jury was composed of Giulia Bini, Curator and Head of Arts at CERN; Séverine Fromaigeat, Director of the Barbier-Mueller Museum; Chiara Mariotti, particle physicist at the CMS experiment at CERN; Sophie Sallin, Cultural Adviser for the City of Geneva; and Jérôme Soudan, Cultural Adviser for the Republic and Canton of Geneva.
Following its second edition, the Resonance residency programme will launch a new special edition for 2026.
